HYPOCRISY AND THE UNPLUMBED PENETRALIA: AN EXAMINATION OFMULK RAJ ANAND’S UNTOUCHABLE & U.R. ANANTHA MURTHY’S SAMSKARA

My paper focuses on Mulk Raj Anand‟s pre-colonial novel Untouchable (1935) and U.R. Anantha Murthy‟s post-colonial Samskara (1965), originally written in Kannada, a Dravidian language, translated into English by A. K. Ramanujan. These two seminal novels representing the colonial and post-colonial Indian milieu address deep-seated cultural, social, religious values, practices, concerns, and hypocrisies. They both explore the hypocrisy and the unplumbed penetralia. Anand‟s novel though focuses on „untouchable‟ in the hierarchy of Hindu caste system as such hints at rampant hypocritical practices among sections of the highest caste, Brahmins. On the other hand, Anantha Murthy‟s Samskara is a searching and a deeper analysis of the Brahmanism of South India. The protagonist of Anand‟s Untouchable is Bakha, an „untouchable‟ youth; his typical day‟s travails in the midst of caste-ridden society are realistically portrayed. One of the significant events that Bakha experiences is his becoming conscious about his sister being subjected to molestation by a temple Brahmin who, in turn, as a self-protective device screams that he has been „polluted.‟ Anantha Murthy‟s Samskara‟s protagonist Praneshacharya, a Vedic Brahmin, highly regarded for his knowledge and interpretation of scriptures by his fellow Brahmins, denying himself pleasures of life, ultimately reveals his dark secrets and desires by succumbing to a low caste woman Chandri‟s robust sexual charm. My paper highlights the two significant instances because they, quintessentially, demonstrate an expose‟ of the high caste brahmins‟ hypocrisy.